Penguin Wave Energy Converter Produces First Power (UK)

Finnish wave energy developer, Wello Ltd, has on September the 10^th released further test results of the Penguin wave energy converter installed in Orkney, Scotland.

The Penguin wave energy converter was redeployed in Orkney in July 2013 after pre-commissioning of the power plant. The Penguin has now been producing electricity to the grid with direct conversion from wave movement to electricity with the aid of a rotating eccentric mass inside the device (ie. Rotator).

The Penguin has now been tested in operations with different wave conditions and even with maximum wave heights of 12 meters. For example with mild sea conditions (2-3 meter waves) peak power ranges between 300kW and 700kW. With current (non-optimized) control continuous power of 160-180 kW can be captured from these waves. These results are slightly higher than estimated based on scale model tests for similar configuration.

The Penguin can be upgraded to higher performance simply by increasing the weight of the rotator, as verified with scale model tests, contributing to the performance potential of the device together with the control optimization.

“This is a significant milestone for us. We have now demonstrated that the operational principle of the Penguin works in full scale and power generation potential is in the right ballpark. Designing the product with off-the-shelf industrial components has saved us a lot of time and provides us with a short cut to commercialize the technology. We are also progressing gradually to improve on the marine operations side,” says Aki Luukkainen, CEO of Wello Ltd.

Next step of the test program is to practise support and maintenance practises, implement gradual improvements and to optimize the control in different conditions.

Wello Penguin is a unique and patented construction to harvest ocean energy. It is based on industry standard components, including a generator typically used in wind turbines, to allow scalable manufacturing by virtually any shipyard using existing manufacturing processes.

[mappress]

Press release, September 10, 2013; Image: Wello